» Side Dishes

While We’re On The Subject Of Comfort Foods, A Recipe For Mashed Potatoes

malziecakes — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 01:15:00 +0000

Mashed potatoes usually don’t sit well with me because I’m a fan of big flavors. You can’t just expect me to eat plain mashed potatoes, you know? It has to have some pizazz to it. Here’s a recipe that my aunt always uses that I swear by.

Recipe:

5 medium white potatoes, peeled and boiled (until they’re kind of falling apart, so you will have an easy time mashing it with a fork)
1/2 container of sour cream

1/2 stick of real, salty butter

salt

pepper

1/4 c sliced green onions

1/2 c milk, or more if necessary to make creamy

Over low heat, combine sour cream, butter and milk until it becomes a little sauce. Pour your mashed potatoes and green onions in and stir together. Season with salt and pepper. Voila!

Springtime Means Pasta Salad Time: Cold Penne Salad with Celery, Scallions and Broccoli

malziecakes — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 22:12:00 +0000

I needed a good accompaniment to the turkey pita I was eating, so I decided to make a crisp, verdant salad out of the things that I had sitting in my fridge (that’s how most of my recipes start out, I guess…college life…). I ended up with a seasonally appropriate pasta salad full of green things in my fridge: peas, broccoli, scallions and celery, topped off with a bright balsamic vinaigrette to bring the whole thing to life. I brought it to a potluck the next day, and everyone ate it, so that’s a good sign…right?

Recipe:

1 bunch scallions, sliced thinly on the diagonal
4 stalks celery, leaves included, sliced thinly on the diagonal
3/4 c cooked peas
1 1/2 c cooked broccoli, cut into little florets
1/2 package of penne, cooked and drained

Dressing:
3/4 c olive oil
3/4 c balsamic vinegar
4 cloves of garlic, crushed and minced
1 tbs dijon mustard
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp dried dill
1/2 tsp cracked black pepper
1/2 tsp kosher salt
pinch red pepper flakes
1/4 c Italian flat-leaf parsley, chopped finely

Combine salad ingredients together. In a separate bowl, whisk dressing ingredients. Toss with salad and store in the fridge until ready to serve.

Photo courtesy of allrecipes.com

I’m Easy: Tzatziki!

malziecakes — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 18:01:00 +0000

I was eating my roommate Andrew’s tzatziki dip that he bought at Wegman’s (well, I don’t think he knew I was eating his dip…hmm) and I realized that it’s really nothing more than yogurt and a bunch of other household ingredients like garlic and cucumbers, stuff that everyone has lying around their fridge. I’ve adapted Ina Garten’s recipe for tzatziki and made it super easy to make. Serve this with good crackers and a few olives and people will love you forever.

Oh, I skipped the cheesecloth-yogurt draining process, so it’ll be a bit runny/watery if you keep it for more than a day.

Recipe:

1 pt plain full-fat Greek yogurt

1 hothouse cucumber, peeled, seeded, and minced into perfect little cubes

1 tsp kosher salt

1 tbs white vinegar

2 tbs freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 tbs olive oil

1 1/2 tsp minced garlic

1 1/2 tsp minced fresh dill

freshly cracked black pepper

Sprinkle 1 tbs of salt over the cucumbers and let it drain for about 30 minutes. Rinse salt off and pat dry. Mix everything else together and toss the cucumbers in. Chill in the fridge for about 3 hours before serving.

What I’m Cooking Tonight: Egyptian Fatta

malziecakes — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 17:20:00 +0000

Fatta is one of my favorite Egyptian foods. My stepmother Hala makes it and it’s seriously, probably the only thing I look forward to when I visit Egypt (just kidding, Daddy!) Fatta is a rice casserole with several different components: there is a layer of beef stock-soaked pita bread cubes at the bottom of the casserole, then topped with layers of rice and beef smothered in a tangy garlic and vinegar tomato sauce. Hala gave me the recipe for it two years ago, but I couldn’t really understand her translations for some of the spices, so I’m just going to wing it for you.

Recipe:

2 rounds of stale or crispy pita bread (or substitute with stale French or sourdough bread)
15 cloves of garlic, smashed and minced
2 c. brown rice, cooked
1 can tomato sauce
1/2 package stewing beef
2 onion, chopped in half
10 peppercorns
1 bay leaf
6 cardamom seeds
2 dashes cinnamon
1 beef bouillon cube
2 tbs white vinegar

Fill a pot with about 6 c. of water. Add the stewing beef, onions, bay leaf, cardamom, peppercorns, and cinnamon, and bring to a boil. Once it’s boiling, add the bouillon cube and dissolve. Simmer for about 30-40 minutes until the meat is really tender. Meanwhile, saute garlic until golden brown in a bit of butter. Add in the vinegar and simmer for about 5-7 minutes. Add in the tomato sauce, turn up the heat and bring to a boil. Season with salt and pepper and set aside. Tear up the bread and lay it at the bottom of a square baking dish. When the beef broth is done, strain out the cardamom seeds, bay leaf, peppercorns and the onions (or if you want, you can leave it in) and pour enough liquid over the bread in the baking dish to cover. Arrange the meat in the dish. Spoon in half of the cooked rice and pack it very firmly over the bread. Pour half of the tomato sauce over it. Repeat with another layer. Bake in the oven for about 30-40 minutes and serve with a salad…it’s very good!

Pictures to come later!

Masa’aa: Egyptian Version of Greek Moussaka

malziecakes — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 20:43:00 +0000

You’ve seen moussaka before — it’s layers of ground beef, eggplant smothered in a tangy garlic tomato sauce and topped with a creamy bechamel sauce, slightly blistered on top from baking.

The Egyptian version is very similar, except there is no bechamel sauce (which is great, because its — pardon my language — a bitch to make). I got this recipe from my lovely stepmother, Hala, and my aunt from Denmark, Omima. It’s very important to keep things as grease-free as possible…there’s a lot of olive oil in this!

Recipe:

3 medium eggplants, cut into 3/4-inch slices

1 1/2 cans tomato sauce

6 cloves of garlic, minced

3 large tomatoes, sliced thickly

2 tbs white vinegar

1/2 package ground beef

3/4 c minced parsley

1 onion, minced

salt

pepper

olive oil

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Put the sliced eggplant in a colander and sprinkle with a good bit of salt. Let it drain for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, brown the ground beef and onion in a separate pan and season with salt and pepper. Add the parsley at the last minute. Drain the beef mixture on a paper towel and set aside.

When the eggplant has drained for 30 minutes, rinse the salt off the slices and pat dry with a paper towel. Season with salt and pepper. Heat olive oil in a frying pan (about 2 tbs or so) until it is very hot, and fry each piece. Drain the eggplant on a paper towel and set aside.

In a sauce pan, fry up the garlic in olive oil until it turns golden brown, but don’t burn it! Add the vinegar, and simmer for about two minutes. Add in the tomato sauce and cook to a boil, and then leave it to simmer for about 5 minutes. Season to taste, adding more vinegar if necessary. Add the meat and stir together.

Grease an 8 by 8 baking dish (or whatever fits) and layer the eggplant first, then a layer of the sliced tomatoes, and then a layer of the meat sauce. Keep repeating until you run out. Bake for about 30-40 minutes. Serve with rice or pasta.

OK– I realize there’s a lot of steps…sorry about that!

How the Couscous Salad Really Turned Out

malziecakes — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 03:22:00 +0000

OK, if you’re planning to make the spinach, mushroom and chicken couscous salad from the post below, I recommend not including the chicken (there’s wayyy too much stuff going on) and not putting too much balsamic vinegar because the tomatoes make it slightly acidic. I tried it tonight, and believe me…while it was a wallop of flavor, the vinegar sent it a bit over the edge.

Spinach, Mushroom and Chicken Couscous

malziecakes — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 20:31:00 +0000

I haven’t actually made this recipe yet, but it is going to be my dinner tonight. I’ve gotten pretty good at fantasizing a meal all day and then executing it by dinnertime.

I usually make couscous salads as a savory-sweet kind of deal, but I realize that most people don’t like the fruit-and-nuts-with vinaigrette profile, so I decided to make a warm, savory salad out of it. Here goes!

Recipe:

3 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 onion, chopped

1/2 tomato, roughly chopped

1/2 package couscous, cooked and fluffed

1/2 c mushrooms, sliced

2 pcs boneless skinless chicken thighs

3 big handfuls spinach, washed

white wine (optional)

kosher salt

freshly cracked black pepper

olive oil

balsamic vinegar

1/3 c cilantro, roughly chopped

In a hot pan, saute and season chicken pieces in olive oil until cooked and set aside. Drain on paper towels. In the same pan, saute garlic, onions and tomatoes. When the onions are translucent, add mushrooms and spinach (and a splash of white wine, if you’d like) until fully cooked. Chop up the chicken into bite sized pieces and throw it back into the pan with the veggies and heat through. Add a bit of balsamic vinegar to taste and season again with salt and pepper. Pour in the couscous and cilantro, and mix to combine.

Awww, yeahhhh! You know, this would be great with a bit of goat or feta cheese. I actually hate feta cheese, though.